Magento 1 is Dead. Long live Magento 1!
Yesterday, I tuned in for a live video feed hosted by TJ Gamble of eCommerceaholic celebrating the many years of opportunity and success the original version of Magento ushered in for the eCommerce community. TJ was joined by Talesh Seeparsan, Ben Marks, Kalen Jordan, and Guido Jansen, all of whom shared memorable stories and anecdotes while sipping fine spirits and fielding comments from eCommerce experts around the globe.
Magento 1 has been a success story for open-source developers and merchants alike. It was no surprise that the videocast wasn’t about a sales pitch. Instead, it focused on nostalgia and appreciation. While Magento has certainly experienced different rounds of commercialization as a product, many of us are truly thankful for the opportunities that this software platform made available. Magento 1 is, without a doubt, a really great example of how an open-source project can build opportunities that are diverse and far-reaching.
For those that missed it, there’s also a recent article by Matt Assay which provides some great background on how Magento reshaped eCommerce, and if that’s not enough of a walk down memory lane, I’d recommend watching the recording of last year’s Key to Imagine event, in which Bob Schwartz shares stories about the early days of Magento.
However, Magento 1 is not only living on in spirit. It’s July 1st, and Magento 1 has passed its end of life date, but there are still approximately 100,000 Magento 1 sites in the wild according to Willem de Groot and the Sansec team.
What do we call these M1 sites? They’re not Zombies back from the dead. In fact, they’re still operating pretty much the same way they did a day early, a week earlier, a month earlier… you get the drift.
This is not the first open-source platform to lose central support from the original software developers. Heck, no one is creating videos about the end of life of Magento 2.0, 2.1, and 2.2’s end of life. Ok, maybe almost no one. ;)
The fact that so many merchants have not replatformed is a testament to the value provided by the Magento 1 platform. As I like to say, if Magento 1 were a car, it’s still running, and still getting people where they need to go — and it has no resale value. It’s tough to choose to buy a brand new car when you’re getting by just fine.
Now, there are website owners that leverage great security systems and protocols to keep their sites safe and secure. Some may not even be running eCommerce stores — I’ve personally helped multiple businesses launch Magento websites that act as catalogs and quote request systems. However, most users that I’ve come across used Magento specifically for its eCommerce capabilities, and keep their sites accessible to the shopping public at large.
Some in the eCommerce community have consistently suggested that merchants still running Magento 1 are illogical. I can safely report that, by and large, many are very logical. Paying to migrate to a new platform and trying to regain years of customizations that came at not only monetary costs, but with lots of errors and issues along the way, is not always the answer. It’s the same reason that so many large retailers are using what would otherwise be declared obsolete point of sale software. Sometimes the resources of replacing legacy systems are simply prohibitive.
I drove a 2004 Acura until 2018. I liked the car and didn’t feel that I was missing anything by not rushing to get a new model. It was not warrantied, but it was well maintained… and I would do it all over again. I saved money, and operationally, there was nothing wrong with it. My wife likes this about me. Specifically, she likes that I know how to be happy when something is a good fit. In fact, I believe that planned obsolescence is often a problem we face, not a virtue.
Does any of that mean that Magento 1 website owners should stop looking at opportunities to migrate to a newer software? No. Replatforming is the best option.
With 100,000 Magento 1 sites still operating, right, wrong, or otherwise, real businesses need to address real security and compliance issues. This isn’t theoretical. Nor is this about one persona. Merchants still on Magento 1 come in all sizes and have myriad stories for why they haven’t switched to another shopping cart software yet.
Migrating to a new platform (from planning and quoting through launch) can take months if not years in some cases, and can require significant cash and staffing resources, which may very well be impacted by an ongoing pandemic.
This is the point in the article where you’re expecting to arrive at a particularly pointed sales pitch that suggests that one vendor is the answer to life, the universe, and everything. The good news is that there are vendors that can help you with security and compliance issues related to staying on Magento 1. The better news is that I have been creating materials on this topic since Magento 2 was released in November of 2015.
If you’d like to know which companies have offerings that can help you, check out this handy list that was published by the Magento Association: https://www.magentoassociation.org/commerce-co-op/full-article/magento-1-post-eol-resources-1
My sincere recommendation is to find the vendors (plural) that align well with your needs, goals, expectations, and company culture. That includes vendors related to Magento 1 patch development, web development, web hosting, and payment processing.
If you want to learn more, check out some of the many materials on M1 EOL that I’ve helped to create in recent years. I’ve listed articles, videos, and other content in reverse chronological order so that you’ll see the most up-to-date information first:
2020:
2019:
2018:
2017:
https://www.jlbflorida.com/a-magento-1-x-sunset-is-on-the-horizon/ (formerly RandMarketing.com)
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If you’re a merchant, web developer, or agency that has questions, you’re welcome to reach out, and I’d be happy to share knowledge about Magento 1 EOL, but today I’ll simply leave you with this conundrum:
Magento 1 is Dead. Long live Magento 1!
